As the school year approached and our family calendar quickly filled up with sports, classes and other commitments, I realized I had a dinner problem. I was feeling rushed and unprepared. When it comes to meal prep, I am the WORST, but it was something I needed to tackle. My family couldn’t very well eat burritos or takeout every weekday. (Ok, maybe we could but it wouldn’t be very healthy.)
Enter
I first heard of them on Facebook. A friend had a free coupon to try out a box. Admitedly, I was a little nervous about ordering my groceries online but so many friends had tried a variety of different services, I figured there must be something to them.
So I ordered a small box…and promptly fell in love.
They offer three plans, each available for either 2 or 4 people – a veggie plan, their classic plan (more variety) and a family plan. Each week has diffrent offerings and you can view the menus and adjust your box up to a month out. (Don’t want a delivery that week? Just skip it.)
It ships in a large cardboard box with your recipes on top, and each meal’s ingredients in a marked paper bag. The meat is at the bottom underneath a large ice pack. If you order fish, they mark it with a sticker as you should always make that meal first.
I usually get the classic plan for two, but this particular week, I switched it up and got the family plan for four. We had beef tacos with pineapple salsa, parmesan crusted chicken and applesauce pork tenderloin. This way we had some left-overs for lunches.
Each dish was absolutely delicious! I keep trying to pick a favorite but I can’t.
The thing I love most about HelloFresh is the variety of food and flavors they offer. I don’t consider myself a cook and I’m not good at experimenting, but HelloFresh has allowed me to try a ton of combinations that I wouldn’t have ever put together myself.
Let’s talk kiddos: Truth time. The odds of my children eating all three of the provided meals are slim to none. However the protein portion is almost always a win, so I don’t mind them finding something else to eat for a side. We’ve found that a few meals are a little spicy for them, so be sure and check for that before ordering or just leave out that particular ingredient or spice. (Also if you have adventurous eaters, you’ll be fine. I’m not that lucky!)
Of course, if your kids can help you make the meals, I’ve found they are much more inclined to at least try a bite!
Something to note – each recipe comes with an estimated prep and cook time. No matter what we do, my husband and I have never found these to be accurate. Maybe we’re just slow, but each recipe always seems to take us longer than it should.
Pro Tip: You can choose your meals about a month in advance. Be sure to set an alarm on your phone each time you order (or skip a week) so that you don’t forget and get surprised when your shipping notification arrives in your inbox. The good news is that HelloFresh has excellent customer service, so if you catch it in time (ie. before it’s prepped and shipped), they can cancel it. Ask me how I know.
The bottom line is that is an excellent option if you’re short on time or struggle with meal planning. I will continue to use them as we leave baseball season behind and head into the winter basketball season. It’s nice to know I always have something in my back pocket.
Want $30 off your first box? Use code PARENTINGPRO30 at check-out!
This post is sponsored by HelloFresh. All opinions are my own.
Leave a Reply